Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department are taking to ensure applicants for disability benefits during the covid-19 outbreak are offered (a) a remote benefits assessment and (b) the choice between completing remote benefits assessment over the phone or on paper.
All face-to-face assessments for sickness and disability benefits are currently suspended in line with public health advice. We continue to complete paper-based assessments and make recommendations based on written evidence available, where possible.
Where a case cannot be progressed by a paper-based assessment, a telephone assessment will be conducted, where appropriate to do so. This decision falls to the Health Professional, rather than the individual.